Nearly 7 of every 10 Marines in combat roles say repealing the
policy that prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly would
harm their unit's effectiveness, more than any other branch of the
armed forces, according to a long-awaited Pentagon survey released
Tuesday.

Forty-four percent of all service members said unit
effectiveness would be harmed by its repeal; among the Marines
whose jobs are on the front lines, that number rose to 67
percent.

"Among the services, the Marines were consistently more negative
in their responses about the effect of repeal," the report
said.

The survey ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates concludes
that the armed services as a whole would see little disruption by
repealing the 17-year-old policy of "don't ask, don't tell."

The policy prohibits the military from asking service members
about their sexual orientation and forbids troops from engaging in
homosexual activity or revealing whether they are gay or
lesbian.

For the more than 14,000 troops who have been discharged under
the policy, the report recommends they have a path for rejoining
the military.

A repeal could have dramatic, long-term consequences in this
region, home to more than 75,000 Marines and sailors at Camp
Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. The region also is
home to tens of thousands of sailors stationed in the San Diego
area, and thousands of military retirees.

A repeal of the ban would affect base housing and military
benefits.

Gates, who supports ending the law that was adopted during the
Clinton administration, said it won't happen overnight, even if the
U.S. Senate goes along with President Barack Obama's call for its
end. The House of Representatives has already approved repealing
it.

"It would be unwise to push ahead with full implementation of
repeal before more can be done to prepare the force, in particular
those ground combat specialties and units, for what could be a
disruptive and disorienting change," Gates said.

The Marine Corps' resistance has come from the top down. Former
Commandant Gen. James Conway was a staunch opponent, and his
successor, Gen. James Amos, says he believes it could be disruptive
to troops at war in Afghanistan.

Amos also has cited the Marine Corps' policy of assigning two
troops to a room on its bases as a potential problem.

But Gates said housing and spousal benefit policies for service
members "can and should be applied equally to homosexuals as well
as heterosexuals."

Gates also said he does not expect the Pentagon would have to
rethink those policies to accommodate gays if they are allowed to
serve openly. A majority of concerns could be addressed through
increased training and education, he said.

About one-quarter of the more than 16,000 Marines who responded
to the survey said they serve with someone whom they know to be
homosexual.

North County resident and former Camp Pendleton Marine Evelyn
Thomas has long fought for the policy's repeal. She said Tuesday
that it will take more than just political will.

"The military is going to have to have some time to prepare and
provide some form of protection for people to serve openly," said
Thomas, a lesbian who left the Marine Corps in 2004.

Max Disposti, president of the North County Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Coalition, said his group believes the
survey was flawed.

"The questions were meant to create a problem to begin with by
asking troops and their families how they would feel if their
husband or wife worked next to a gay or lesbian," he said. "We have
opposed, since the beginning, framing questions in a way that asks
if discrimination should continue."

How lawmakers analyze the survey is what Disposti wants to
see.

"Will they look for another excuse to postpone repeal, or will
they agree with the majority of the population?" he said, adding he
considers the ban on gays similar to the military's policy that
once segregated black and white troops.

North County congressional Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and
Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, say they do not believe it is time
to change the policy.

"Making any changes to current policy during wartime must be
done with extreme caution," Bilbray said.

That same position is held by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, a
Marine reservist who served two combat tours in Iraq and one in
Afghanistan before being elected to Congress in 2008. Issa, Bilbray
and Hunter all opposed the House bill that included the repeal.

Hunter received a briefing from Pentagon officials Tuesday
morning. He said they told him that the Marine Corps "has to be
approached with extreme caution on this issue" because of its
troops' general resistance to the repeal.

The second-term congressman acknowledged the policy will
probably be repealed someday, but not with his support.

"I believe it affects unit cohesiveness, and front-line men and
women simply should not have to worry about this," he said. "The
military is the wrong place for a social experiment, and repeal
doesn't make the military any better, but it will affect good order
and discipline."

Slightly more than 115,000 troops overall responded to the
survey, along with more than 44,000 military spouses.

Senate Democrats plan to force a vote in December. Senate
Republicans were generally silent after release of the report.

Report highlights include:

-- Troops kicked out of service under "don't ask, don't tell"
should be allowed to reapply under the same criteria as others
seeking re-entry into the armed forces.

-- The report does not recommend that sexual orientation be
placed alongside race, color, religion, sex and national origin as
a class eligible for various diversity programs and for resolving
complaints.

-- No special arrangement would be made for those with religious
or moral objections to serving alongside gays. People of differing
moral values and religious convictions already serve together, it
says.